Courtesy of a Coat
by Tesmi
Summary: Going out into the snow without a jacket can be dangerous. Fluttershy hurried to bring Rainbowdash her coat, out of worry and for an excuse to vacate Twilight's loud party. That's what friends are for, after all. Flutterdash fluff, oneshot


Snow fell from the sky in a beautiful crescendo of crystals and white noise created by the tempered wind. A light knock on a wooden door roused a creek from the rustic wood as it was promptly pulled inward. Twilight Sparkle, dressed in a somewhat superfluously showy dress awaited her guest with a grin spread on her oval face. She was wearing tasteful make up that complimented her slanted eyes and the tannish color of her skin.

"Hi, Fluttershy! Come on in, please," the liberal girl said excitedly, taking her new guest by the hand. Fluttershy whimpered slightly as she was tugged straight into the fray of the part. To her surprise and displeasure, her usually disdainfully antisocial friend had invited what seemed to be all of equestria to her little 'get together.' There were many, many faces she recognized in the sea of people- and plenty she didn't.

Nervously staying close to Twilight's side, Fluttershy resisted the urge to take off her winter jacket. She knew she would feel more exposed, and so more uncomfortable, with the jacket on then with it off, even in the crowded space. Fluttershy looked around anxiously, and before she could regain herself, Twilight ha left her side. Squeaking, the shy girl felt a heavy pressure on her chest. How could she be alone in this place full of people?

Lyra and Bon Bon were sitting together near the stairs. Snails was stirring up trouble with Trixie, who, as usually, was deep into a description of her own brave heroics. Twilight was striking up a conversation with a pressed looking Applejack, who seemed strained from the discussion. Her heart fluttered, suddenly as she noticed another familiar face. A lightly tanned face, dressed with messy multi –color waves and fitted with beautiful eyes. The color of Rainbow Dash's eyes had always enchanted Fluttershy. She found herself staring, and blushed as her friend glanced her way. Rainbow Dash gave her a small smile, before quickly returning her attention to her companion- it was Soarin, one of the wonder bolts. Fluttershy's heart sank into her stomach. She knew how deeply her friend admired Soarin. To the point of blushing when his name came up…

Fluttershy looked up as she heard her name. Rarity was beckoning her to join her from across the room, where she was standing in an idle position with a martini in one hand. She was with a lavishly dressed gentleman, who wore a monocol and had a proud, royal air about him. She gradually forced herself to try to maneuver through the crowd. Her path was quickly blocked. The pink haired girl was fairly tall- she scaled all of her friends save for the very person whom she wished an audience- but she had to tilt her head to look up at the man. Macintosh, known as "Big Mac' among his friends- and with due cause- gave her a lofty lopsided smile. Fluttershy smiled shyly at him, avoiding his eyes, and instead looking for a way around the broad-shouldered man. She found none.

Little did she know, the sandy-haired fellow had been an afar admirer of her for a long time. He, also known for being social inept like her, had never worked up the nerve to hold a conversation between just the two of them. It was always in a social outing with multiple people, or where his sister invited friends over, that the two exchanged words. Even then, it was the simplest of encounters, and often short lived and uninteresting in topic. Now, where everyone else was occupied with their own affairs, seemed like the perfect time to approach the beautiful, humble creature he had so longed to speak with before.

But she had little patience for him. He hadn't thought through his plan, and held her there in an awkward silence. Fluttershy glanced impatiently around the roadblock, giving him wry stares as he became more and more uncomfortable. It took a long few minutes of this continuous exchange before Big Mac forced himself into commentary.

"Yur lookin' mighty nice tonight, ma'dam," He said with a compulsive grin, blushing. Fluttershy blushed, too, not out of attraction like Big Mac, but because she was unused to compliments and put off by the abruptness of it.

"O-oh," she murmured "T-thank you, Mac."

Big Mac said something in a joking tone that Fluttershy couldn't really hear, and she laughed politely. Before she knew it, he was making jokes in forced string, looking delighted by her reaction. She regretted having pitied him, and was forced to continue her polite chortles, somewhat amused by the big mans boisterous chuckles.

_What a fool we must look,_ she thought self consciously, the hair on the back of her neck prickling in discomfort. _I suppose everyone is staring at us. He laughs so very loudly for such a quiet man!_

Indeed, someone was staring over the sea of heads. Rainbow Dash watched with a guarded look of possessiveness in her deep magenta eyes. Even her engaging friend Soarin could not take away her attention then, and though she continued in the conversation, it was half hearted. She kept stealing glances at the two, clenching her jaw as a feeling of jealousy sizzled in her belly. Who was that bumpkin rustic to come in here with his attractive looks and make her Shy laugh in such a warm manner? She knew all too well how hot Big Mac was to girls- she herself had been scolded from drooling over the man during his shirtless work in the summer apple acres. But Fluttershy would never fall for an egghead like him…would she?

Thoroughly disturbed, Rainbow Dash could no longer concentrate on the studious, successful, man-of-her-and-every-other-girl-in-Equestria's-dreams, standing right in front of her. She needed to cool off, and she couldn't do so in this crowded, stuffy place. Disappointing her fellow with a lame excuse, Rainbow Dash slipped through the crowd like a shadow towards the door, fleeing into the fresh air.

The tomboyish girls disappearance did not go unnoticed. Fluttershy watched with confused concern was her friend slipped into the night air. She realized with a start that Rainbow Dash had not brought her jacket. Panic ravaged her chest. It was snowing out- she could freeze!

"I- I need to u-u-use the b-b-bathroom," Fluttershy excused herself quickly, cutting off Big Mac. She was gone before he could object, disappearing into the crowd. Quietly making her way to the door, Fluttershy avoided any wishing to greet her, and fetched the rainbow colored jacket from the rack. She knew it was her friends, because nearly everything Rainbow Dash owned was marked with her iconic rainbow signature. Seeing the mark stirred a warm familiarity in the girl's belly, and she smiled, clutching the winter coat to her chest as she scurried out the door into the cold night air.

The night wind howled in her ears, blowing her long wavy hair into her face. She smoothed it behind her ears, not caring if it messed up the style she had prepared for the party, looking around. Her friend was no where in sight. The snow had erased any signs of departure. Where could Rainbow Dash have gone?

Fluttershy let her feet lead her. She knew not where she was going, and tried her best to ignore the eye clinging to her eyelashes and the cold nipping at her exposed skin. Her pale skin had developed a rosy complexion at the cheeks , and she was vividly aware of the threat of her nose running. Still, she tracked on through the harsh white, whimpering quietly when the wind blew with excessive vigor.

She didn't know what lead her here, but her feet had been right. Rainbow Dash was standing in the middle of the white garden. The snow's bitter grip was less vicious here, as the trees made a protective umbrella against the environment. The garden, under any other circumstances, would be a pleasant, silent place where Fluttershy came to be alone and in peace. But tonight, it was a safe haven from the storm that raged around, shared between just two people. It was intimate, almost, in these enclosed spaces.

"Dash," Fluttershy called quietly, getting a surprised look from her counterpart. Rainbow Dash, though tough as nails, was not impervious to the cold. She looked even darker than normal. Her regular coloring was a mixture of colored and olive, and if it weren't for her colored hair, she would look a midway between Italian and Hispanic. She was beautiful, really, with her large magenta eyes and her soft lips. Fluttershy looked down as she trudged closer to her friend, aware of the sudden heat in her face even if it could not be seen in the dark.

"I-I brought you y-y-your coat," she explained in a soft mutter, holding it.

"I don't need it," Rainbow Dash said somewhat stubbornly, feeling both the need to seem strong and the need to ostracize the pink-haired girl from the usual soft inner circle the tomboy usually granted her privileged access too. Fluttershy could sense it, and felt suddenly ashamed and sad. Still, her shyness was not powerful enough to nip her concern. She frowned forcefully at her friend, and wrapped the coat with a ginger hand around her shoulders.

Rainbow Dash flushed at the closeness of the action, gulping down the lump in her throat. She looked away, but all the same clutched her coat tightly around her, forcing her arms through the holes. She zipped it up, letting out a sigh at the physical relief from the cold of the night. Snuzzling into the jacket, crammed her hands in her pockets and stared at into the darkness. Fluttershy waited in companionable silence.

"Shouldn't you be getting back now? I'm sure you're being missed," Rainbow Dash muttered as her nerves got the best of her. The comment was more to herself than to Fluttershy, and she wished that she hadn't said in within the next second. Fluttershy cast her a look of trepidation, unsure how to breach his topic.

"I don't want to go back. I'd rather be with you anyway."

This shut the jealous girl up immediately. She blushed to herself, turning away so that her friend could not see. How stupid she was, being so bitter when Fluttershy had done something so sweet. She felt guilty and stupid, and regarded both of these emotions with equal hatred.

"Thanks, Shy," Rainbow Dash muttered at last, catching her friend by surprise. Fluttershy smiled warmly, nodding to herself.

"Anything to save you from dying of cold, Dash. You're my best friend, after all."

Rainbow dash was taken aback, both by the words and strong, overwhelming surge of emotions they provoked. She stared into Fluttershy's sea green-blue eyes, unable to describe how close she felt to the other girl. The heat of those words remedied her cold almost immediately, and she felt the sudden need to fight back tears.

"You're best friend..?"

Fluttershy glanced at her questioningly, a light smile curling her soft pink lips.

"Of course. You've always been there for me. Even when we were kids and you were so small," she laughed lightly at the memory of the scruffy, spunky little girl. Rainbow Dash, too, had to allow herself a smile when she thought of how gutsy she was a child. Had she changed from then, at all? Was she still the same hot-headed, pushy, impulsive girl? She hoped Fluttershy did not see her that way anymore.

"Well, I had too," Rainbow Dash said grumpily. "You couldn't defend yourself. What was I supposed to do, stand there and watch them tear you down?"

Fluttershy giggled softly, illiciting a confused expression from her fellow.

"I know, I'm a real push over," she admitted in a soft laugh. Rainbow Dash laughed, too.

"I'm serious, Dash," Fluttershy said again when the atmosphere had settled. "I mean, I love all of my friends. But.. but you were my oldest friend, always my best friend. We're not the same at all. Really, we're completely opposites. But that's why we get along so well. You're a really nice person."

Fluttershy slipped into silence then. The two stood side by side, watching the snow come down in random spirals, unencumbered by sense of direction or purpose. Slowly, Rainbow Dash reached out and took hold of her friend's hand.

"Yeah. Whatever. If you say so, Shy." She said in a grunt, not looking at her friend. Fluttershy was not disturbed. She could hear the happiness in the choked tone of her friend.

"Love you too, I guess."

Admitting it was one of the hardest things she had ever done. Because deep down, inside, Rainbow Dash knew that she really did love Fluttershy.


End file.
